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Too much tech-think?


Snejk

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Or maybe lack thereof?

So, we had our first gig with the band today, at a wedding. During rehearsals I've my voice always got tired through one run of the setlist... Easy mid-range songs like Judas Priest - Living After Midnight and Neil Young - Keep On Rocking In The Free World eventually required me to vowel modify and hit overdrive = very ugly for such song which requires the vowels to be sung in pure chest...

Now... At the wedding I was nervous as a wreck, I drank 4 beers, 1 glass of champagne and a glass of wine and then we went up..

I was not that drunk since the drinking was spread over 5 hours but, I did feel some effect and..

My voice SOARED... I had no problems with the vowels, singing everything in chest.. !!! It was easy as pie...

While singing I was actually thinking "did you guys tune down 2 whole steps???"... I watched the recordings afterwards and (*auto edit*), I sounded better than I do sober... Not the same strain at all.. Still this awesome sounding breathiness (can't get rid of it because it lowers my voice CONSIDERABLY, plus it doesn't sound as good) but it just felt very easy...

When sober I strain alot and my throat feels like an hourglass - I got my support down, I have great knowledge and control of it but when singing high, narrow chesty vowels my throat clenches up.. I still get a loud sound but after just a few lines my voice can't sing those high notes and I need to overdrive/mix it which is SHIT in most of the songs...

Any input...?

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What was your PA rig at rehearsals, and what was it for the show? I find that I overcompensate for lack of sound reinforcement by singing louder... Thus, straining and wearing myself out. But, at a show, with proper PA, I don't sing so "hard" and feel like a milion bucks. I also have a few drinks before a show. Aclohol is a depressant, thus.. helps you relax. You loose some inhibitions. I would say either get yourself a good pair of monitors for rehearsal, or get some in ear monitors - if that is your problem. I solved that by getting some floor monitors and an amp - but now I kinda want ears instead. Thats my $.02

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What was your PA rig at rehearsals, and what was it for the show? I find that I overcompensate for lack of sound reinforcement by singing louder... Thus, straining and wearing myself out. But, at a show, with proper PA, I don't sing so "hard" and feel like a milion bucks. I also have a few drinks before a show. Aclohol is a depressant, thus.. helps you relax. You loose some inhibitions. I would say either get yourself a good pair of monitors for rehearsal, or get some in ear monitors - if that is your problem. I solved that by getting some floor monitors and an amp - but now I kinda want ears instead. Thats my $.02

I can relate to both of these things. However, as far as the alcohol goes, I wouldn't rely on it too much! It's great feeling more relaxed and confident, but as it's a diuretic, you will lose hydration, which is NOT good for singing. It will also stop you feeling pain as much if you do something wrong, so you may be damaging yourself without even realising. Obviously for occasional situations like this it's not too bad, and it's a great feeling when you out perform your expectations :)

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Same gear - we brought it with us. At the gig I didn't have a monitor so I actually didn't hear myself that well... Haha :P I do know my voice fairly well so I don't "oversing" in terms of pushing volume... :P

EDIT: Of course, drinking too much is never a good thing but.. For me, it's not because it inhibits range or tone because that never happens until the day after :P It's more like, you know, forgetting lyrics, forgetting rhythm etc etc that's the alcohol-problem :P

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Here's my two cents, which probably equals 1.5 E, the euro being stronger than the dollar, right now.

In rehearsal, you hear yourself quite well and second-guess yourself and worry about all this singer training stuff. In live performance, all of that is out of your head, alcohol or not. You are simply more relaxed on stage or something like it because you have done all that you could, it's heck or high water, sink or swim.

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2 more cents. In rehearsal, you might go over the same part a few times. It's like doing too many bicep curls. You wear yourself out that way. And you may not be resting enough between songs while rehearsing. Especially if time is tight. As opposed to the performance set list. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. On stage patter, a joke the drummer tells while you get a drink of water.

Take a lesson from opera singers. In rehearsals, they mark their performances. Marking is where they don't sing full out and the high parts are often done in falsetto, merely to keep the note placement fresh while not overusing the voice. Don't expect your bandmates to understand. They have external instruments and all the amplification they could desire and changing a string is like changing a shoelace.

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